Centering support



Feb. 8, 1949. 1 P. MOREY CENTERING SUPPORT Filed Feb. 14, 1946- Y m ER.A www mwa/. N w O E mw L j@ m W m n n y Patented Feb. 8, 1.949

CENTERING SUPPORT Leon P. Morey, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to EastmanKodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of cw J erseyvApplication February 14, 1946, Serial No. 647,587

l This invention relates to centering support, and particularly to aconvenient arrangement of parts designed for readily and easily placingeither a loaded or empty core on, or removing such a core from, a webunwinding or winding spindle, and automatically Vcausing aninterengagement or disengagement between the driving head of saidspindle and the core, without the necessity of careful and accurateplacement of the latter.

In the manufacture of paper, photographic 3 claims. (o1. 24a-46.6)

lm, fabrics and other continuous strip material, Y Y

necessitates handling-and lifting the roll from a wind-up or onto areel-olf mechanism by means of power, such as an electric or pneumatichoist.

Obviously, extremely close control of such a hoistV in order to alignexactly the core with a driving member or on dead centers isimpractical.

Guiding the ends of such a roll onto supporting and driving centers isquite diiiicult. Not only is there an ever present danger that anoperators nger-s may be injured, but the ends of the tubular cores arefrequently distorted and centering supports damaged. Therefore, someself-guiding means, capable of overcoming such misalignment, isdesirable. If such means are also resilient as well as having anautomatic directing function, the roll may be placed on supports withminimum loss of time. The present invention contemplates the provisionof a structure fulfilling not only the above conditions, but alsoproviding a driving engagement for a core.

In the drawings, in which like reference numerals are applied tocorresponding parts in the several views,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of one end of a tubular roll coreas it appears when in place and in engagement with the resilientcentering supports aforementioned;

Fig. 2 is an end view as the parts would appear in a -section taken online 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal section on line 3 3 ofFig. 2, the core and the resilient parts being out of engagement;

Fig. 4 is a similar section showing the core supported in operativeposition; and

Fig. 5 i-s a fragmentary plan of a detail.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 4, I0 represents a generally cylindricalhead which may be removably attached to a shaft i! by a stud l2, andcentered thereon by having a circular recess I3 tting closely a taperedboss I4. The shaft II may be supported in suitable bearings I5, one rfwhich, not shown, with a stub shaft, is adapted for 'longitudinalmovement to serve as a dead end or tailstock at the other end of thecore while the onev shown may be considered as a driven head.

The part is in the present showing has a deep annularrecess l betweenthe main central portion and a marginal flange Il. A shoulder I8provide-s a stop and locating element for a ring i9. This ringV and a-second ring 29 are centered on a reduced hub portion I' of the headIl). Between the rings I9 and 2E! a series of substantially U-shapedVsprings 2l and 22 are supported on pins or rivets 23 which are forcedinto closetting holes in the ring 2t. The springs 22 serve asTeenforcing member-s for the springs 2l and take up part of the loadwhen the springs 2I are slightly flexed. Both sets of springs arefabricated in such manner that when they are pressed within the annularflangeV I1 theywill be under stress and therefore pre-loaded to theextent of several pounds each. l

As shown in Fig. 2, these pairs of springs are located radially withtheir outer portionsY in substantially edgetoedge contact all around therings I9 and 2B. A third ring 24 is provided to shield theinwardly-turned free ends 25 of the springs, which, between these endsand their outer straight portions, include curved portions 2&5.y It isthe latter which provide the points of support for the core C, a part ofone end of which is shown in Fig. 3 as it appears when being moved intooperative relation with the head I0. The plate 24 is held in place toserve as a retainer for the spring-and-ring assembly I9, 20, 2|, 22, bystuds 21 that pass through the hub portion of the head, and are placedand set up before the head is attached to shaft II by the center studI2. Spacer-s or lugs I1 projecting inwardly from the flange I 1 liebetween adjacent springs, the latter being narrowed to accommodate thelugs, as indicated in Fig. 5. The whole assembly is driven from shaft IIby a pin P whichY engages the head I' at a suitable distance from thecenter thereof, as shown in Fig. 4.

The core C shown in the drawings is of comparativelythin tubing. At oneend is an inwardly depressed forming 28 that is slightly less in widthYin a circumferential direction than Y one of the springs 2 I, 22, attheir outer portions 26. When the core is pushed toward the flange 3indicated by the arrow, the forming 28 will depress whichever spring ithappens to be aligned.r with. As the core moves further, its entireinner periphery or edge 29 engages all the other springs, and even if itis not concentric with the head Il), it will quickly become so becauseall the springs are of equal. strength and immediately ,tend to centerthe coi-je, the entire set actingE a's-a ffconicis guide to align thecore C with the flange ll.Y

The forming 28 may actually depressv twoV springs to the position B inFig. 4. However, as soon as the head i0 is rotated, the form-lng, slippast one spring and willA be` c raughtbetween-` two as shown in Fig. 2,thus .serving asa key for the core, and transmitting to the latter therotary motion of the driven head r lluand shaft il, This automaticengagement obviats the necessity of an operator placing his handat theend of the roll to guide a core into place.

As the web of iilm or othermaterial builds.

` load, and as it passes beyond the top center, its

load decreases. The springs within approximately 45 either way from topcenter are always carrying the load and the others` serve merely ascentering guides, remaining in the position of Fig. 3.l 5 Y Thetailstock, not shown, may have the same construction as has just beendescribed, except that its shaft will not be driven,andthespringcarrying head may be moved axially to enter the other end `of the coreto serve as a deadend Center.

The preferred form of the invention, as above` described, has been foundextremely*practicalV and useful, for time saving, safe operation,andfruggedness. However, the precise structure shown may be modified indesign as required, -within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. A core support for tubular cores ofthe type Y having one or moreprotuberances, said support comprising a plurality of springs loetweenany two alternate units of which said protuberahces may be inserted toserve as means for driving 4 said core, a rotatable head, a ring membermounted on said head and carrying said springs with the latter disposedradially and with their free ends 'recurved toward the axis of saidhead, whereby portions of the faces of said springs constitute aconcentric resilient seat for said core and Y parts ofthe edgesnof said`vsprirrlgs constitute driv- 15.TLA

.have one or more lugs projecting inwardly from the shell of said core,comprising, in combination,

. a-pluraity of substantially U-shaped spring memlhers mounted onvacentral disc and having their 'lend inw idly; an annular driven head i vA thLs'p Vng spacers and partly surrounding said 'sp ll'gs; a secondcentral disc con- -JnectemWith sa-idhead and extending over the freeends ci the springs, said springs thereby constituting resilient coresupport wherein any one of said springs is yieldable to permit the corelugsto enter between alterna-te 'Spr-ings" 'to provi'de combined driving'andr supporting inea-ns for theere.

*3, centering si'ippbrt adapted to receive and toV drivey tburcoreswhich have inwardly proj'ec'ting' lugs, orthlike, constituting drivingkeys therefor, comprising, combination, a series ofsubstantiailyz-wshaped springs mounted on a tending over the recurvedinwardly directed free endsfoff the springs'g'. a driving head connectedwith one of 'the'dises a'iidhaving an extended periphery partiallyenclosing said springs and searr'anged that whena tulUl'ar-coreapproaches Said head, the springs ohsttlit both a yielding centeringlsupport a driving .member there- 'l any f! Said' SDih bingvllclentlyresilient to yield aidhthe'rebyto permita core lug to enter betweensprings so that the core may be driven thereby. y

' f LEON P; MOREY.

,REFERENCES GITED The .following references are of record in the Number'Name Date Vesisto Murdock Aug, 27, 1907 999,059- Roney et al.Y July 25,1911 .1,321,186 rvivragrath i sept. 1,- 1931 1,895,810 -Mgrath Y e Jan.3l, 1933

